Post on 28-Jan-2015
description
Reaching the hard-to engage with social media
• Michele Ide-Smith, Web Strategy Manager, Cambridgeshire County Council
November 2010
A case study covering…
1. Background and aims
2. Approach
3. Solution
4. What we learnt
Background and aims
Challenges in Wisbech
Socio-economic, rural deprivationLarge migrant worker populationDigital exclusion – IT skills and accessHard-to-engage groups (migrant workers,
youth, older people, disabled people, time pressured 25-40’s)
And engagement challenges
Poor attendance at Neighbourhood Panel meetings
Attendees not representative of the wider community
No way to record results of engagement activity and make them visible
Project objective
Improving community engagement using social media tools
Helping improve community cohesion
“It’s another tool in our community engagement toolbox”
Dan Horn, Fenland District Council
Approach
Strong partnership working
Use existing networks
Use existing networks
Do your research
Who are your users? What do they want?What social media are they using? How do they behave online?
8 focus groups, 2 surveys, 3 rounds of user testing
Everyone heard of it and one regular
user
Only use Facebook for
communicating with family
Don’t log in so can’t see it being useful
Don’t belong to any fan pages or groups
Could have an anonymous Facebook for complaining
except for topics like school crossings which
wouldn’t need to be anonymous. Well used, but not
for complaints
Use it for everything chat, games, forum
Favourite site on the net
Nacro Urban 25-40 Older people
Perceptions of social media
Get stakeholders on board
Use fun, participatory games e.g. the social media game (Wilcox and Kanter)
Define clear processes, but be open to regular review and change
Enthusiasm can get you a long way!
(Hat-tip to @davidwilcox
and the Social Media Game)
Solution
Encourage participation
Top down or bottom up?
No existing hyperlocal sites or groupsPeople can be uncomfortable discussing
civic issues on social networks like Facebook (preferring anonymity)
Co-production and moderation by community centre volunteers
Share feeds with hyperlocal sites
Reaching the hard-to-engage
Use community networks and volunteersVideo can be more accessible when
literacy is a problemTie-in with offline engagement methodsSchemes to help build community skills
and capacityAuto-translation features on the website
What we learnt (so far)
Lessons learnt
Involve Councillors / practitioners early on
Use familiar terms e.g. ‘Facebook’ not ‘social network site’
Moderators need CRB checksUnexpected issues will arise after go liveUpdate content frequently Identify a lead partner to respond Keep it simple!
Website links
ShapeYourPlace:http://wisbech.shapeyourplace.org
Project blog:http://fenland.worktogether.org.uk
For more information
Michele Ide-SmithWeb Strategy ManagerCambridgeshire County CouncilPhone: 01223 699710Twitter: @micheleidesmithBlog: http://www.ide-smith.co.uk
michele.ide-smith@cambridgeshire.gov.uk